Paper feed for high speed printers



Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS ll Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 a Q ov\ wm MY m a E v 42 3 H II E hm r kw 0% Ne w P \a. a. I 0% om E G. h... I. III. I- I oh 0 h m H o o o a ll! a mm H l. a 11 I H I. k. I. 1 Wv wv am. v. I. O, No l w 3.? .n. us n l b 5 at t m m0 Lu Mk. 3 pm .3! I! o 0 m3 H Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE 3,006,520

PAPER FEED FoR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS v Filed Sept. 21, 1959 ll Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 31, 1961 F, R, SE 3,006,520

PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS Filed Sept. 21, 1959 ll Sheets-Sheet 4 IIIII Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE 3,

PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS Filed Sept 21, 1959 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS 11 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE 3,

PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS Filed Sept. 21, 1959 ll Sheets-Sheet 7 Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS ll Sheets-Sheet 8 Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS ll Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 l la lola lnl.

Oct. 31, 1961 F. R. HOUSE PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS ll Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 06L 1961 F. R. HOUSE 3,006,520

PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS Filed Sept. 21, 1959 ll Sheets-Sheet ll United States Patent G 3,006,520 PAPER FEED FOR HIGH SPEED PRINTERS Frank R. House, Franklin, Mass, assignor to Anelex Corporation, (Ioncord, N.H., a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Sept. 21, 1959, Ser.No. 841,191 10 Claims. (Cl. 226-75) The present invention relates to high speed printers and particularly to paper feeding means therefor.

High speed printers have proved to be extremely efficient but difiiculty has been experienced with their paper feeds. In the operation of high speed printers, the tension on the paper may be improper, its columns may be laterally displaced relative to the print hammers, and the paper may have to be raised or lowered relative thereto.

To ensure satisfactory quality of the work, such adjustments must be made as the need arises and without interruption of the drive and the principal objective of the present invention is to provide means for so doing.

In accordance with the present invention, this general objective is attained by providing a paper feed consisting of an infeed assembly and an outfeed assembly each including a pair of tractors. The tractors of each unit have a slidable connection with the drive shaft thereof and means are provided to shift either one or both of the corresponding tractors of each assembly laterally in one direction or the other while the shafts are turning.

The drive is connected to the shaft of the infeed assembly and means are provided to so adjust the drive as to enable the moving paper to be raised and lowered relative to the print hammers. The drive includes a connection between the shafts of the upper and lower assemblies and means are provided for so adjusting it as to enable the tension on the moving sheet to be increased or decreased.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of a high speed printer in accordance with the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a printer in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a view of the left hand side thereof,

FIG. 3 is a like view of the right hand side of the printer,

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the printer,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the format controlled drive,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view, on an increased scale, showing certain of the parts by which the spacing of the tractors is efiected,

FIG. 7 is a section taken approximately along the indicated lines 77 of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a section taken approximately along the indicated lines 88 of FIG. 6,

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view, on the scale of FIG. 6, of certain parts of the paper feed,

FIGS. 10 and 11 are fragmentary sections taken approximately along the indicated lines 1010 and 11-11, respectively, of FIG. 9,

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary and partly sectioned view of the infeed and outfeed assemblies,

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a tractor,

FIG. 14 is a view of the paper receiving side of the tractor,

FIG. 15 is a View of the opposite side thereof,

FIG. 16 shows the tractor as viewed from its infeed end,

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary view showing an end view of the pulse generator, and

FIGS. 18 and 19 are sections taken, respectively, along the indicated lines 18-18, and 19-19 of FIG. 17. p

overlying a way 71.

3,006,520 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 In accordance with the invention, a high speed printer is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined bed 25 for the paper between a lower infeed assembly 26 and an upper outfeed assembly 27 and, between the assemblies, there is a transverse unit, not shown, containing the print hammers which engage the paper from below.

The printing mechanism may be of the type shown in Letters Patent No. 2,805,620 and include the print hammer unit and a roll generally indicated at 28, a ribbon feed generally indicated at 29, and adjustable pulse generator 30, a format controlled drive 31 for the paper feed.

The print roll 28 is continuously driven by a motor 32 mounted on the base 33 of the printer and has its sprocket 34 connected to one of the two sprockets 35 on a shaft 36 by a belt 37 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The shaft 36 and the shaft 38 of the print roll 28 are rotatably carried by framework 39 pivotally attached at its lower edge to the side walls 40 and 41 of the printer and locked thereto by releasable clamps 42. The other of the sprockets 35 is connected to a sprocket 43 on the roll shaft 38 by a belt 44. It will be understood that, as disclosed in said patent, the print roll 28 is continuously rotating when the printer is in service and that it has a plurality of arcuately arranged and lengthwise spaced rows of indicia, any one of which will print when the paper and the interposed ribbon are driven thereagainst by an appropriate one of the print hammers.

Attached to the roll shaft 38 is the rotor 45 of the pulse generator 30 whose stator is adjustable, as by the handle 46 and includes diametrically opposed permanently magnetized coils 47 and 48 with the coil 47 being adjustable relative to the coil 48 (see FIGS. 17 and 19). The function of the pulse generator is to deliver a plurality of control pulses, one for each longitudinal row of indicia, when that row arrives in printing position and a pulse for each revolution of the print roll 28. The rotor 45 includes two disc portions 49 and 50 (see FIG. 18) for the coils 47 and 48, respectively.

The ribbon feed 29 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) includes end 7 frames 51 connected to the frame work 39. and provided with a motor 52 having a gear 53 meshing with a gear 54 of an electrically operated clutch device 55 which gear meshes with a similar gear 56 on a similar clutch device 57. The clutch device 55 has a pinion 58 meshing with a gear 59 on a ribbon roll 60 and the clutch device 57 has a pinion 61 meshing with a gear 62 on a ribbon roll 63.

While the means for actuating the print hammers are not a part of the present invention, it is important to note that each printing hammer has its own circuit and that data is fed, typically from storage, to the hammer circuits. Whenever a control pulse matches a character from the fed data, it triggers the appropriate hammer circuit. It is necessary, accordingly, for the paper feed to be capable of being accurately started and stopped. It is necessary to enable the paper to be adjusted and also properly tensioned to ensure the printing of characters thereon in correct positions in relation to column defining lines.

Each paper feed assembly consists of a pair of tractors, generally indicated at 64 and 65 which may best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 12-16 and are similar except that the covers 66 and 67 are hinged to swing open away from each other to permit the paper sheet P to be placed therein with its marginal perforations engaged by teeth 68 carried by arms 69 attached to the chains 70 and Each cover is yieldably seated against the subjacent way by a spring 72 and has a slot 73 through which the teeth 68 are exposed. Each tractor chain 70 is trained over a sprocket 74 and an idler 75 and each tractor has a fixed nut 76 disposed between its socket and its idler. Each sprocket 74 is shown as having a square hole 77 thus to be slidable along its 3 drive shaft. The drive shaft for the lower assembly is indicated at 78 while that for the upper assembly is indicated at 79 and both are square in cross section.

The drive shaft 78 (see FIGS. 7 and 12), is journalled at one end in a bearing 80 attached to the inner surface of the wall 40 and its other end passes freely through a hole in the Wall 41 and is supported by bearings 81 and 82 carried by spaced walls 83 and 84, respectively. Between the walls 83 and 84, the shaft 78 is provided with a sprocket 85 and fast on its extremity there is a sprocket 86.

The format controlled drive 31 has a sprocket 87 and a belt 88 is trained about it, the sprocket 86, and sprockets 89 and 90. The sprocket 89 is carried by a shaft 91 journalled in slides 92 vertically movable in slideways 93 in the inner surfaces of the walls 83 and .84 and the shaft 94 of the sprocket 90 is similarly journalled in slides 95 vertically movable in similarly arranged slideways 96 in the Walls 83 and 84.

A stud 97 extends between the walls 83 and 84 and this rotatably supports a block 98 between the flat-surfaced parallel arms 99 of a fork 100. The fork arms 99 slidably engage opposite faces of blocks 101 and 102. The block 101 is pivoted as at 103 to the slides 92 and the block 102 is pivoted as at 104 to the slides 95. The fork 100 has a pivot 105 which is locked to the end of a screw 106 threaded through a nut 107 supported by a pivot 108 disposed between and supported by the walls 83 and 84. A cover 109 is secured to the edges of the walls 83 and 84 and has an opening 110 through which the screw 106 extends. To the exposed 'end of the screw 106 there is secured a knob 111 facili- 'tating the turning of the screw 106 in one direction or the other. When the screw 106 is turned in a clockwise direction, the fork 100 is tilted in one direction to raise the sprocket 90 and lower the sprocket 91' thus to effeet a lowering of the paper while turning the knob 111 in the opposite direction results in opposite tilting of the fork 100, and raising of the paper form, thus to enable its transverse lines to be properly located relative to the print hammers. The fork 100 carries a finger 112 extending through a slot 113 in the cover 109 which is provided with indicia with reference to which the finger 112 is readable, enabling the operator to determine its position (see FIG. 9).

The drive shaft 79 of the upper feed assembly is journalled in a bearing 114 in its wall 40, while its other end extends freely through the wall 41 and is supported in the proximate faces of the walls 117 and 118 which also have slideways 125 for slides 126 rotatably supporting the shaft 127 for the gear 121.

' The slides 123 are joined by a transverse pivot 128 threaded transversely to receive an adjusting screw 129 provided with a knob 130 seated on a bracket 131. R0- tation of the knob 130 in one direction or the'other raises or lowers the slides 123. The slides 123 are interconnected by a pivot 132 including a block 133 arid the slides 126 are similarly interconnected'by a'pivot 134 having 'a block '135. The blocks 133'and 135 are slidably confined between parallel, flat-surface keepers 136 attached to opposite faces of the block portion 137 of ,a pivot 138 journalled in the walls 117 and 118. By this arrangement, the slides 123 are moved vertically in a direction opposite to the slides 126. Counterclockwise rotation effects a decrease in the tension thereof.

It has been noted that each tractor has a fixed nut 76. The nut 76 of the tractor 64 of the lower assembly 26 receives a screw 140 journalled at one end in a bearing 141 in the wall 41 and having an extension 142 extending freely through the screw 143 which is in the form of a sleeve and which receives the nut 76 of the tractor 65 of the lower assembly. The screw 143 is journalled in a bearing 144 secured to the side wall and has, on its exposed end, a sprocket 145. The screw extension 142 protrudes from the screw 143 and carries a sprocket 146. A hearing mount 147 .is attached to the wall 40 and rotatably supports a hollow shaft 148 rotatably receiving the shaft 149 which protrudes from both ends thereof. The shaft 148 has sprockets 150 and 151 with the sprocket 150 being connected to the sprocket 145 by the chain 152. The protruding ends of the shaft 149 carry sprockets 153 and 154, with the sprocket 153 being connected to the sprocket 146 as by a chain 155.

The sprockets 151 and 154 are located on the inside of the wall 40 and are connected by chains 156 and 157, respectively, to sprockets 158 and 159, respectively. The sprocket 158 is fast on a hollow shaft 160 rotatably journalled in a bearing mount 161 in the wall 40 and provided with a sprocket 162. The sprocket 159 is fast on a shaft 163 extending through the shaft 160 and provided with a sprocket 164.

Each of the tractors 64 of the upper assembly 27 has its fixed nut 76 threaded on a screw 165 rotatably mounted in a bearing 166 on the wall 41 and formed with an extension 167 extending freely through the screw 168. The screw 168 is threaded through the nut 76 of the tractor 65 of the upper assembly and is supported by and extends through a bearing 169 carried by a side wall 40. The screw 168 has a sprocket 170 and a gear 171 fast on its outer end. The exposed end of the screw extension 167 is journalled in a bearing 172 in an outer housing wall 173 and is provided with a sprocket 174 and a gear 175. The sprockets 162 and 164 are connected to the sprockets 170 and 174, respectively, by chains 176 and 177.

A shaft 178 (see FIG. 8), is journalled in the walls 40 and 173 for transverse movement relative thereto and is provided with a handled knob 179 at its outer end. Its other'end is provided with three axially spaced grooves 180, 181, and 182 and movement is releasably prevented by a detent 183 engageable with any one of said grooves. Spring-pressed centering devices 184 and 185 are pivotally carried by the walls 40 and 173 and enter through wall slots 186 and 187, respectively, to engage with opposite faces of gears 188 and 189 fast on the shaft 178. It will be apparent that the shaft 178 may be axially shifted from its illustrative position in which its gears 188 and 189 are in mesh with the gears 171 and 175, respectively, into two other positions in one of which the gears 188 and 171 are in mesh and the other of which the gears 189 and 175 are in mesh so that either or both tractors of both assemblies may be moved towards or away from each other to ensure their proper paper feeding position or the accurate lateral adjustment of the paper sheet.

In order .to shift the shaft 178 in one direction or the other, a mount 191 is provided rotatably supporting a spindle 192 on whose outer end there is a knob 193 and on whose inner end there is a cam 194 located between and engaging the proximate faces of the gears 188 and 189.

While the format controlled drive 31 is not, by itself, a part of the present invention, it will be noted, from FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, that it consists of a motor 195 whose sprocket 196 is connected by a belt 197 to the drive sprocket 198 of a generally indicated ditferentia1'199 to which the driving sprocket 87 is connected as is a sprocket 200 which feeds the endless control tape 201 having apertures by which light from the lamp 202 is admitted to the photo cell unit 203 to initiate the delivery of a drive stopping pulse. These apertures determine the format of the sheet being printed. Pulses governing starting originate in the data producing system and the means for so doing are not herein detailed. The time between a starting pulse and the next stop pulse determines the spacing between the lines of printing.

The differential 199 includes drums 204 and 205 associated with which are electro-magnetically operated brakes, generally indicated at 206 and 207, respectively. When either drum is held by its brake, the other drum is rotating. When the drum 204 is held by its brake 206, the sprocket 87 rotates until a stop pulse causes the brake 207 to hold the drum 205 until the next start pulse is received.

I claim:

1. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and, when driven, positively advancing the paper relative to it, a drive for said tractors, and means to affect the lateral positions of the tractors engaging one edge of the paper independently of and, optionally, together with the tractors engaging the other edge thereof, said tractor positioning means being operable while said tractor drive is in operation.

2. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and, when driven, positively advancing the paper relative to it, a drive for said tractors, a pair of means, one for corresponding tractors at each margin of the paper and operable to shift them simultaneously laterally in either direction to an equal extent while said tractor drive is in operation, and a control having three operating positions, one for each of said means and one for both of said means.

3. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, a pair of shafts, one for each pair of tractors and to which they are connected, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and positively advancing the paper relative to it when a respective one of said shafts is rotated, and a drive for said tractors including an endless driving member connected to the shaft of the infeed pair of tractors, and an endless driven member interconnecting said shafts.

4. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, a pair of shafts, one for each pair of tractors and to which they are connected, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and positively advancing the paper relative to it when a respective one of said shafts is rotated, and a drive for said tractors including an endless driving member connected to the shaft of the infeed pair of tractors, independent means operable while said drive is in operation for moving said driving member to move the paper in either direction relative to its path, and an endless driven member interconnecting said shafts.

5. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, a pair of shafts, one for each pair of tractors and to which they are connected, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and positively advancing the paper relative to it when a respective one of said shafts is rotated, and a drive for said tractors including an endless driving member connected to the shaft of the infeed pair of tractors, an endless driven member interconnecting said shafts, and independent means operable while said drive is in operation for moving said driven member to move the paper in either direction relative to its path to vary the tension on the paper between the two pairs of tractors.

6. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, an outfeed pair of laterally spaced tractors, a pair of shafts, one for each pair of tractors and to which they are connected, each tractor gripping an appropriate margin of the paper and positively advancing the paper relative to it when a respective one of said shafts is rotated, and a drive for said tractors including an endless driving member connected to the shaft of the infeed pair of tractors, independent means operable while said drive is in operation for moving said driving member to move the paper in either direction relative to its path, an endless driven member interconnecting said shafts, and independent means operable while said drive is in operation for moving said driven member to move the paper in either direction relative to its part to vary the tension on the paper between the two pairs of tractors.

7. The printer of claim 6 in which at least one of said independent means comprises a sprocket on the appropriate tractor shaft, a pair of idler sprockets, one on each side of said shaft sprocket, all of said sprockets being operatively engaged and driven by the appropriate endless member, a mount for each idler sprocket, said mounts being supported for parallel sliding movement, an arm pivotally supported between said mounts and pivotably connected thereto whereby movement of one mount in either direction is attended by opposite movement in the other direction, and an operator control operable to effect such movements.

8. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed assembly, an outfeed assembly, each assembly including a pair of tractors, a shaft operatively connected to both tractors, said tractors gripping opposite margins of the paper and positively advancing it when driven by said shaft, and a supporting screw for each tractor in parallel with its shaft, one screw of each assembly being tubular and the other screw thereof including an extension extending therethrough, a connection between the tubular shafts of the two assemblies, a connection between the shaft extensions of the two assemblies, each of said connections being operative to cause corresponding movement of corresponding tractors of the two assemblies when either corresponding screw is turned in either direction.

9. In a high speed printer, a paper feed including an infeed assembly, an outfeed assembly, each assembly including a pair of tractors, a shaft operatively connected to both tractors, said tractors gripping opposite margins of the paper and then positively advancing it when driven by said shaft, and a supporting screw for each tractor in parallel with its shaft, one screw of each assembly being tubular and the other screw thereof including an extension extending therethrough, a connection between the tubular and the other screw thereof including an extentween the shaft extensions of the two assemblies, each of said connections being operative to cause corresponding movement of corresponding tractors of the two assemblies when either corresponding screw is turned in either direction, and means to actuate said connections.

10. The printer of claim 9 in which the connection actuating means comprises an axially shiftable rotatable element including a pair of spaced gears, the screw and screw extension of one assembly including axially spaced gears, the axially shiftable element having a central position in which its gears are in mesh with the appropriate screw gears and end positions in one of which only one screw and one element gear are in mesh and in the other of which only the other screw and the other element gear are in mesh.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,140,028 Nichols Dec. 13, 1938 

